Does 18fluoro‐fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography improve recurrence detection in patients treated for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with negative clinical follow‐up?

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the benefits of 18fluoro-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET) in the detection of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) recurrence in patients with negative clinical follow-up. METHODS: Whole-body 18FDG-PET was performed in 30 patients treated for HNSCC without any clinical element for recurrence. RESULTS: Twenty-one negative PET and 9 positive results were seen. One patient with abnormal 18F-FDG uptake in the laryngeal area did not have recurrent HNSCC (false positive). Eight had proven recurrence. The sensitivity and specificity of 18F-FDG PET for the diagnosis of HNSCC recurrence were 100% (8/8) and 95% (21/22), respectively. The positive predictive value was 89% (8/9). The negative predictive value was 100% (21/21). The overall accuracy was 97% (29/30). CONCLUSION: The results of our study confirm the high effectiveness of 18F-FDG PET in assessment of HNSCC recurrence and suggest that it is more accurate than conventional physical examination follow-up alone.